Cholesterol of Maternal and Fetal Blood at the Conclusion of Pregnancy

Abstract

This paper concerns the relative concentrations of cholesterol in the maternal and in the fetal circulations. By determining the quantity of a certain substance on both sides of the placenta, evidence can be presented concerning the transmission of that substance through the placenta. Fetal blood is not a simple dialysate or filtrate of the maternal blood, but the placenta exerts a specific and definite selective power over certain of the substances which pass into it and which might conceivably enter the fetal circulation. The amount of cholesterol in human blood is 150–190 mg. per 100 cc., It is increased in the blood of pregnant women.- Several investigators have studied cholesterol in maternal and in fetal blood.– The modified method of Bloor was used for the cholesterol determinations. Stoppered one-ounce blood bottles containing a small amount of sodium oxalate were included in the sterilizer drums containing the sterile linen and instruments for each obstetrical delivery. Immediately after the birth of the baby the umbilical cord was clamped between hemostats and cut. One of the hemostats was released and 5 cc. of blood were placed in the bottle, which was then stoppered and shaken. As soon as the mother was returned from the delivery room (usually within 15 minutes), 5 cc. of her blood were taken from the median basilic vein by a hypodermic syringe and put into an oxalate blood bottle. The cholesterol determinations were run simultaneously on both infant and maternal bloods. By carrying out the procedures in the manner described, the blood specimens represented the maternal and fetal bloods at the very end of pregnancy.